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About ahappylass

Prelude: This day is always kind of a weird one. On one hand, 12 years ago was the first (and still the biggest) historical event to happen in my life. It was a horrific day that changed countless lives. On the other hand, America’s reaction, the coming together of a country, was pretty spectacular.

So today, I recognize the anniversary of the sadness and the loss but also of a galvanized country. Every September 11th, let’s remember what we’ve already been through and how we reemerged. Hold on to that unity. Have a chat with your neighbor, ask your coworker about their day, get excited about nothing with a child in your life … live it up, because you never know what will come tomorrow.

And on that note, I really hope that “living it up” includes doing a workout with me!

Here is our workout for this week. No weights or equipment required! Actually, you don’t even need much space for this. So clear some floor in you living room, dorm room, vacation bedroom, or even kitchen! There are no excuses to skip this one. When a workout uses only your body weight, you define the intensity.

Did you hear that? When a workout uses only your body weight, you define the intensity. Your workout is only as awesome as the effort you put in. And those muscles you’re working for don’t just create themselves. Sweat is your friend! Now get at it 🙂

I hope you’re now panting and sweating. Have a happy day knowing you’ve already done your workout 🙂

For the last year or so, I’ve been deeply entrenched in the exponential growth of the natural health industry. People are realizing, slowly but surely, that the typical Western diet and lifestyle leads to a very unhappy and diseased body. Finally.

Thanks to my Mom, I was exposed to the alternative diet and exercise routine from a young age. Natural health in ingrained in me. But as I grow older and talk to more and more people about their personal stories I have realized: there is no such thing as the correct health routine. Continue reading →

This past several days have been unbelievably hot in San Diego. Every year winter comes and goes and I forget the feeling of sweat-soaked clothing on my skin. Not terribly comfortable for the woman who regularly wears black polyester pants (we’re getting close to laundry day here).

However! I’ve had the veggies for this recipe almost a week now. They were on the verge of going bad. So we sat in our sweltering apartment and ate hot stew. Oddly enough, it made us feel cooler! I have heard that when you eat hot food, it heats your body temperature and there’s not such a huge difference between you and the air. Hmmmm…

Regardless, I would have eaten this stew even if it made me sweat like a Scotsman at a charity fundraiser. In other words: it’s delicious. Chunky and thick and SO tasty.

I’m trying to teach myself a few recipes to prep on Sunday nights and crockpot cook it on Monday while I’m at work. It makes our late track riding clinic much easier to handle if dinner is ready when we get home. You could do it in a pot though. Just try it, however you decide to cook it.

I know there are a few readers who come to this page only for the workouts. That makes me pretty happy because that means people are catching on to how awesome they are. It is very important though to vary your workout. Eventually, muscle memory gets the best of your body and your workouts aren’t as effective. The variation can be as drastic as starting a different activity, or as simple as switching up your intervals.

So this is the first of the 16-minute total body. Try to mix these in with the 20-minute workouts to keep your body guessing. Continue reading →

Cleaning the bathtub/ shower SUCKS. It’s my least favorite cleaning job in the whole apartment (including the toilet). I think because it’s actually physically demanding to clean up and down the tile walls then into the tub, etc. And by the time I’m done, I’m soaked from head to toe in a lovely mix of shower water, soap scum, bubbles, and a little bit of bleach. It’s just unpleasant.

Mike, being the amazing man he is, used to do that particular job to save me the strife, but he takes most showers at work now and has a very valid excuse for giving that job back to me.

On top of that, we use HUGE amounts of bleach while cleaning the tub. So when I started this health kick about a year ago, I started searching for a tub cleaner alternative. My pinterest time was consumed by research for tub cleaners (this is some serious business) and every few weeks we tried a different concoction. We tried at least 3 or 4 and some of them were getting expensive. I was about to give in to the bleach when I found this heavenly mixture.

It’s so simple, very cheap, and perfectly effective. It take a bit of time to soak (2 hours) but there is almost no scrubbing involved and everything gets so sparkly clean!

This last weekend, my friend in our apartment complex (lovingly dubbed “the courtyard”) organized a cookout/ movie night. She acquired a projector, organized the potluck, and set up all the fixin’s. We grilled and ate our weight in meat, pasta salad, and veggies, then watched a movie outside in the courtyard.

The courtyard houses some pretty awesome people and we had a great laugh. The best part was being close enough to use our own bathroom, grab a glass of water, and not have to worry about the journey home.

Anyway, I decided to try the shrimp skewers Bonnie perfected for us a few weeks ago in Maine. I tweaked Bonnie’s recipe a bit because I love grilled pineapple. The marinade was amazing and the overall product was delicious. It’s really simple and assembling the skewers can be a social activity. This is a great one. Enjoy 🙂

Yesterday was my blog’s birthday. It’s been 365 days since I wrote my first post on Anxiety and Depression. When I started this little blog space, I actually had almost no idea of what a blog was. All I knew was that I had a lot of ideas and was tired of getting up on my soap box in the grocery store line. I was tired of talking to people who didn’t want to hear my advice. (Fair enough for the poor people who mentioned one thing about gluten and then had to hear me talk about it for 30 minutes straight).

One year later, this blog has given more than I could have imagined. Of course, I’ve cut back on my number of posts, everyday is just too much. And I’ve narrowed my focus to life updates, health experiments, recipes, and workouts (yep, that’s a narrow focus, hah). But this thing is still a lot of work and there’s a reason I keep going.

This blog has connected me with long-lost friends and new awesome strangers. It (and some advice from my bff) led me to start my Happy Bootcamp. It has helped me focus my cooking energy on healthy meals and my workout energy on a manageable routine. It holds me accountable.

This blog helped me channel my design energy when I couldn’t get it out at work. And when I finally moved on, it helped me get a new job! And now, when my work isn’t health related and I want to talk health, I come here!

But finally, and most importantly, this blog has helped me stay in touch with friends and family all over the world. When I reunite with family after a long time and they know exactly what I’ve been up to, I know it’s all worth it. Because although I may not have any clue that they’re even reading, I know that if they want to pipe up and say hello, they can. The loved ones in my life are my main reason for writing. I miss you all so much, I just don’t want to lose a connection.

This blog has become an extension of me. It represents such a huge part of my personality, health and happiness.

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The Woman In Charge

Health isn't about the way you look or even the way you feel ... health is about helping your body and mind function in the best possible way.
There are times when you may feel amazing for a bit but a crash is soon to follow. And there are amazing bodies with no energy or balance.
Join me on my journey to find my healthiest body and mind. I will stumble along the way but nothing good comes easy. And, over time, I will succeed.
Thanks for reading and have a happy day :)